Method of forming a decorative bow or preassembly therefor



s- 4, 1964 T. J. J. PAAR 3,143,259

METHOD OF FORMING A DECORATIVE BOW 0R PREASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed 061;. 10, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 4, 1964 T. J. J. PAAR 3,143,259 METHOD OF FORMING A DECORATIVE BOW 0R PREASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed Oct. 10, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Mara,

T. J. J. PAAR Aug. 4, 1964 METHOD OF FORMING A DECORATIVE BOW 0R PREASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed 001;. 10, 1960 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Wfiw Wham #M United States Patent METHOD 0? FGRMING A DEQORAIlVn BGW GR FREASEMBLY THEREFOR Thomas 3. .l. Paar, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Chicago Printed String Co, Chicago, 51., a corporation of Delaware Filed Get. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 61,641

4 Claims. (Cl. 223-46) This invention relates to a decorative bow, formed from a predetermined length of ribbon, and a method of forming such bow.

The formation of a decorative bow has heretofore normally required the talents of one possessed of a high degree of dexterity as well as an artistic sense. For this reason, in the merchandising field it has become the customary practice, particularly in department stores and gift-shop operations, to employ personnel possessed of the aforenoted qualifications to handle all gift-wrapping activities. In addition, during certain seasons of the year, various items (i.e., bottled spirits, candy, etc.) are packaged with various embellishments, such as decorative bows, by the producers of such items and are delivered in such condition to the merchandiser or wholesaler. In these latter instances, the costs of such embellishments are considerable; however, because of the competitive character of the market, such additional costs are deemed justified and oftentimes give considerable impetus to the sales of the items.

Some of the important contributing factors to the cost of these embellishments, particularly as to the decorative bow, are the manual effort expended and amount of materials required. Because of the complexity of design and the large amount of material requ led for the formation of various prior bows, the latter are not suitable for mass production or for use in department store or giftshop operations.

Thus, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a decorative bow which is highly esthetic in appearance, is easily formed either manually or by automatic machine, and utilizes a minimum amount of material.

it is a further object of this invention to provide a decorative bow which may be readily formed from ribbon of various widths.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of forming a decorative bow which does not require the talents of a highly skilled person.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a decorative bow which is possessed of its own attaching means, will not deface the surface to which it is attached, and may be readily shifted to various locations on such surface.

Various other and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, a bow is provided which is formed from a predetermined length of ribbon. The bow comprises a plurality of interconnected elongated convoluted segments having the opposite ends thereof in the form of funnel-like loops, and a base member secured to said convoluted segments intermediate the loop ends thereof and adapted to retain said segments in assembled relation. The end loops of the convoluted segments are separated from one another and project outwardly from the base member. The outwardly projecting portions or the separated loop ends are symmetrically disposed about a transverse axis and define a substantially semicircular arc.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, in reduced scale, of

the improved bow;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan View of the improved bow;

FIG. 3 is a front side clevational view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a left side elevational view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the improved bow prior to the end loops of the convoluted segments being separated;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of FIG. 5 and with a covering piece shown partially peeled away so as to expose the adhesive surface of the base member;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the means for manually separating the end loops of the convoluted segments; and

FIGS. 9-13 are perspective views of modified forms of the improved bow.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, one form of the improved decorative bow 10 is shown which is adapted to be made from a predetermined length of flat ribbon. Initially, the ribbon is formed into a hank or bow pro-assembly 11, as shown more clearly in FIGS. 5 and 6. The hank comprises a plurality of convoluted segments 12 which are distorted, in this instance, into a substantially elongated shape. Each convoluted section includes a pair of elongated central portions 12a which are disposed in spaced, substantially parallel relation with respect to one another and have the corresponding end limits thereof interconnected by an end loop 12!). The central portions 12a are twisted relative to the end loops; thereby the latter are of funnellike or conoidal configuration. Secured to the central portions of each convoluted segment by staples or any other suitable means 13, is a base member 14 which is formed of a fibrous material. The base member is adapted to retain the central portions of each convoluted segment in spaced, substantially parallel relation. The spacing 15 formed between the central portions of the convoluted segments may be varied, if desired, and will determine the ultimate width of the bow to be formed.

The base member 14, as shown more clearly in FIG. 6, in this instance, is of substantially rectangular configuration and has the exposed or bottom surface 16 thereof treated with a suitable adhesive material which is adapted to readily adhere to the surface of a package or wrapping. The adhesive surface 16 of base member 14 is covered over with a shield or covering piece 17, formed of treated paper or the like, which protects the adhesive coating material until the bow is to be affixed to a package or wrapping, at which time the shield may be readily peeled oif, so that the adhesive surface is exposed. The base member 14 is positioned on the underside of the bow so that the elongated sides of the base member are substantially transverse to the axis of the elongated hank 11. The dimension or" the elongated sides of the piece 14 should be such that they are not exposed when the bow is formed. Once hank 11 has been formed and the base member 14 secured thereto, the funnel-like end loops 12b of the convoluted sections are separated from one another in the manner as shown more clearly in FIG. 8.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. l8, six convoluted segments comprise the hank 11. As the individual end loops are separated from one another, the bow takes a shape such as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4. The outer convoluted segment has the end loops thereof designated A and A, and each succeeding convoluted segment has a letter and letter-and-prime designation starting B-B' through F-F', such as shown in FIG. 3.

Because of the resilient character of the ribbon from which the bow is made, the separated corresponding end loops will become tiered, or will partially overlap one another. The smaller end of each funnel-shaped end loop projects substantially radially outwardly from a transverse axis, the latter, in this instance, being substantially aligned with the staples 13. The projecting smaller ends of the end loops cooperate with one another so as to define a substantially semicircular arc;

The end loops F and F of the innermost convoluted segment are adapted to interlock with one another, 'as shown, and thus provide the necessary symmetry for the completed how. The number of convoluted segments that may be utilized to form the bow may be varied, as desired, depending upon the fullness of the bow desired. Once the how has taken the form shown in FIG. 3, the protective shield'17 is removed from the adhesive surface 16 of the base member 14 and then the bow is afiixed to a suitable surface by exerting pressure on the bow against the surface in question.

The width of the bow, as heretofore mentioned, may

*be varied by varying the spacing 15 between the central portions of the convoluted segments. In the formation of the hank, the inner end 18 of the ribbon should be disposed to one side of the securing means 13 and the outer or opposite end of the ribbon 20 should be disposed on the opposite side of such securing means. The extent to which the outer end 2i) projects beyond the securing means should be such as to prevent the end from being seen once the completed bow has been formed.

, FIGS. 8-13 show various modifications of the improved bow. In FIG. 8 a three-pointed or triangularlyshaped bow 21 is shown. This how is formed initially from a hank of ribbon similar to that utilized in forming the bow shown in FIG. 1, except that instead of having the elongated sides, or central portions, 12a of the hank disposed in substantially parallel relation, such as shown in FIG. 5, the sides are arranged relative to one another so as to delimit an equilateral triangle. The sides are retained in their relative position by being stapled to a triangularly-shaped base member, not shown, which is formed of cardboard or other similar material. The undersurface of the base member maybe provided with a suitable adhesive, such as is shown in FIG. 6. Once the hank has assumed its triangular configuration, three groups, 22, 23 and 24, of nested end loops are formed. The end loops are of funnel-like or conoidal configuration. The end loops of each group are successively separated from one another, starting with the innermost loop, where by the individual separated loops of a group become tiered with respect to one another. The corresponding separated end loops of a group are indicated by the letters A-F, starting with the outermost loop. The number of loops in the groups may be varied from that shown and will depend upon the fullness of the bow desired.

FIG. 10 discloses a bow 25 which is formed of two or more bows 10, such as shown in FIG. 10 and disposed in back-to-back relation. Bow 25 may function as a suspended ornament and be used to decorate a Christmas tree or the like. Where how 25 is to be suspended, a string or wire, not shown, may be attached in any suitable manner between the mating surfaces of the pair of bows 1t).

FIG. 11 discloses a how 26 which is similar to bow 24 (FIG. 9), except that four groups of end loops, 27, 28, 30 and 31 are form-ed from the hank rather than three. The four groups of end loops are interconnected by segments 32 which are stapled, or otherwise fastened, to a base member 33. The base member 33 is formed of cardboard or similar material and is of such size that it is not observable when the bow is secured thereto. The underside of base member 33 maybe provided with suitable adhesive.

FIG. 12 discloses a bow 34 which is formed of two bows, 35 and 36, which are'of the type shown in FIG. 1. The two groups of end loops 35a and 35b of bow 35 are spread apart to permit bow 36 to be positioned therebetween. Bow 36 is identical to bow 10 shown in FIG. 1.

The bow 37 shown in FIG. 13 is the same as bow 34 (FIG. 12), except that the innermost loops F of how 36' are not interlocked with one another and thus the innermost loops F of bow 35' and loops F of bow 36' give substantially the same appearance.

It is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 913 that the improved bow may take various attractive variations and yet each include a basic similarity in construction.

Thus, it will be seen that a highly decorative bow may be formed expeditiously and in a facilemanner. In addition, ribbon of various widths may be utilized and the amount of ribbon required to form the attractive and novel bow is very small. The bow is also provided with self-attaching means, thereby readily enabling the bow to embellish a particular surface or package without in any way damaging the same.

While several embodiments of this invention have been shown above, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many further modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a decorative bow comprising forming a length of ribbon into a hank having a plurality of nested superposed convoluted sections of ribbon, distorting said hank by rotating spaced portions thereof in opposite directions through an angle not exceeding about 90 whereby the intervening ortions of said hank between said rotated portions each assumes a nested funnellike configuration, securing the rotated portions to the same side of a base member in spaced generally coplanar relation to each other, and unnesting said funnel-like configurations of said intervening portions.

2. A method of forming a decorative bow as in claim 1 and including the step of securing the rotated portions in parallel spaced relationship.

3. A method of forming a bow preassembly from a length of ribbon for use in producing a decorative bow comprising forming a length of ribbon into a hank having a plurality of nested superposed convoluted sections of ribbon, distorting said hank by rotating spaced portions thereof in opposite directions through an angle not exceeding about 90, whereby the intervening portions of said hank between said rotated portions each assumes a nested funnel-like configuration, and securing the rotated portions to the same side of a base member in spaced generally coplanar relation to each other.

4. A method of forming a bow preassembly from a length of ribbon for use in producing a decorative bow as in claim 3 and including the step of securing the rotated portions in parallel spaced relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A METHOD OF FORMING A DECORATIVE BOW COMPRISING FORMING A LENGTH OF RIBBON INTO A HANK HAVING A PLURALITY OF NESTED SUPERPOSED CONVOLUTED SECTIONS OF RIBBON, DISTORTING SAID HANK BY ROTATING SPACED PORTIONS THEREOF IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS THROUGH AN ANGLE NOT EXCEEDING ABOUT 90* WHEREBY THE INTERVENING PORTIONS OF SAID HANK BETWEEN SAID ROTATED PORTIONS EACH ASSUMES A NESTED FUNNEL- 